https://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat...n-results.html

OK, not trying to flame you, but can't you read? It basically says the crank runs a generator, and has an option for a battery. Makes sure to say that there is no chain to get dirty with.

Sharp design, though.....

"500 watt brush-less motor will charge battery while breaking" But what does it do when braking?
I hope the production model has something more than regenerative braking to rely on for safe stops.

Esthetics of the design would be more appropriate for a kitchen appliance, IMO.

Yep. And why would you replace the cheap, light, efficient chain with a heavy and power-sapping generator and motor combination?

There are advantages to using a motor-generator setup as a transmission. The main application is in diesel locomotives, where the diesel engine drives a generator, and a geared electric motor is on each axle. The advantage there is that full torque can be applied to the wheels when the locomotive is stopped, and no huge transmission or clutch is required as the train speeds up. I think this system has also been applied to ships. This was also one of the advantages of steam engines.

For bike use, it would seem to be fairly pointless. Your legs can already generate full torque at a standstill, unlike a diesel engine. You really don't need or benefit from a stepless transmission. Motor-generator sets are normally heavy. On a locomotive, they need the weight for traction anyway, but on a bike, nobody wants to throw a few extra pounds on there. The bike in question shows both motor and generator to be very small, but there's no guarantee that they could be built that small, especially considering the slow speeds they would work at. The regenerative-braking feature would be handly only in certain situations, and even there, the extra weight of a battery might offset the gain from the braking. There's no reason you'd need the appliance styling, but the style is probably the starting point of this concept bike (ie, it's an exercise in styling, not an exercise in bicycle transmission engineering.) Small electric motors and generators are not normally that efficient, and just a small percentage loss in power would lower your top end speed as compared to a conventional bike.

Well, yes, I can read. Do you know what a "rhetorical question" is, my certified genius friend? Glad you like the design.

Your question had no context, and therefore couldn't have possibly been seen as rhetorical. Don't be a ******.

Jeff's picture suggests It's a CGI, and since the computer that generated,
a computer Design 3D picture, is electronic..
So, the image, is electric, and it, actually, doesn't really exist..
unplug the computer and it's gone.

To win an award?

Darwin award? (Looks at photo again. Does not see brakes.)

Guess braking, (or breaking to them) is done electrically.
"500 watt brush-less motor will charge battery while breaking"

At 5 m/s (18 km/h) a 500 Watt motor will slow the bike down with a force of 100 N (ignoring generating efficiency). Assuming a rider plus bike mass of 80 kg (about 785 N), the initial breaking deceleration will be a mere 1/8 g. Furthermore, all the breaking will be on the rear wheel, which is far from ideal.

And what's this about an electric bike with no electric lights?

OK, riding-at-night-with-no-lights hipster Darwin Award. Sheesh.